This invention relates to door holders, and more particularly to door holders adapted to hold an exterior compartment door on a recreational vehicle or the like in an open position.
Most of the millions of recreational vehicles now in use (such as motor homes, travel trailers and the like) have a number of compartments accessible from the exterior of the vehicle which function as storage spaces or which house various operating components of the vehicle such as generators, auxiliary motors, fuel and water systems, etc. Access to each of these compartments is obtained through a door mounted on a frame attached to the exterior panels of the vehicle.
Typically, each of the access doors is hinged to the top horizontal element of its frame by a pinless, hollow hinge and opens upwardly (although some access doors are hinged on the side with the same type of hinge). Normally, each door is provided with a keyed lock.
An annoying and frequently occurring problem associated with such access doors is that of trying to hold one of them in an open position while loading, unloading, or attempting to work on equipment in its compartment--tasks which often cannot be accomplished with one hand while the other hand holds the door up. (Darkness often adds a third element to be managed with two hands--a flashlight).
A makeshift method commonly employed to solve the problem is to prop the access door open with a wooden or metal rod extending between the undersurface of the opened door and either the ground or the bottom of the door frame. This method, though universally practiced by recreational vehicle owners, is far less than satisfactory for a variety of reasons. First, the various access doors on the typical recreational vehicle are mounted at varying heights and are of various sizes, thus requiring, in many cases, a different length prop for each door. Also, it is difficult (if not impossible) to prop up one of the access doors in its fully opened position (i.e., with the door swung upwardly against the exterior of the vehicle) so that the door itself does not hinder access to its compartment. Further, such props are frequently and very easily dislodged by their user, allowing the access door to fall shut and strike the user or impede his work. Finally, the horizontally projecting access door and its prop (especially at night) can represent safety hazards to a person walking by the opened door.
For the determined recreational vehicle owner, several rather expensive alternate solutions to the door holding problem are currently available. Each of these alternate solutions, however, entails the permanent installation of a device on the access door, its adjacent vehicle panel, or both, at each compartment. Such devices include a magnet attached to each door and its adjacent panel, spring-urged clips fixed to and above each door, and straps attached to each door and its adjacent panel. Each of these devices, however, typically entails a relatively high cost for each access door at which they are permanently installed, in addition to the time and effort for installation. Additionally, installation of each of these devices requires the use of fasteners which puncture the vehicle's panels, leaving unsightly holes in the panels if it is later decided to remove the devices.
In summary, none of the prior devices provides a solution to the access door holding problem which is convenient, inexpensive and reliable. Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a door holding device that eliminates or minimizes above-mentioned problems and disadvantages.